Lankford Condemns Biden Decision to Close GTMO

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) pushed back today after receiving a very unsatisfactory and troubling response from the Biden Administration regarding their plans for the future of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In May, Lankford led a letter to President Biden to demand a status update on his plans for continuing to detain terrorists at US facilities in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, even as the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan this week, which Lankford opposed, has essentially allowed the Taliban terrorists to regain full control of the country. The Department of Defense’s short response, after three months, indicated they plan to continue to move forward to close the facility.

“The Biden Administration continues to choose their liberal ideology over our national security,” said Lankford. “The tragic events in Afghanistan this week have been difficult to watch after President Biden doubled down on his decision to leave Afghanistan in shambles after 20 years of our service members’ blood, sweat, and pain to track terrorists and preserve peace. In the middle of that catastrophe, Biden is also doubling down on closing GTMO, where we have detained some of the very same Taliban members who are now sacking Afghanistan. I have urged the Department of Defense to keep GTMO open to stop dangerous international terrorists from being able to continue to carry out attacks against Americans. Their very brief response to the serious concerns I raised was basically ‘we appreciate your oversight, but we’re moving forward to close it.’ This is a bad decision, and I urge the Biden Administration not to continue to stubbornly make choices that undermine the work of our brave service women and men.”

Since 2016, Lankford has spoken out about the important role Guantanamo Bay detention facilities play in combatting terrorism and ensuring we do not bring radical and recruiting terrorists into US detention facilities. Today, Lankford continues to warn against ongoing relations with Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, especially in light of Iran-backed attacks by Hamas in Israel recently. In May Lankford recorded a podcast with former US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, on Israel, Iran, and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which remains perpetuated by terrorists acts.

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